Employment Rights (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

1.The purpose of these draft Regulations, laid by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as proposed negatives, is to ensure that there is legal clarity and certainty in employment law in a possible ‘no deal’ scenario. The Employment Rights (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 propose to repeal powers of the Secretary of State to make secondary legislation in relation to the UK’s obligations under EU Directives dealing with certain aspects of employment law such as parental leave, part-time work and fixed-term work and information and consultation of employees, as this would no longer be appropriate after the UK’s exit from the EU. BEIS explains that the impact of these changes would not be material, as other powers to amend those aspects of employment law will be retained. The instrument also proposes changes to legislation in relation to European Works Councils (EWCs) which the Department says would protect arrangements for existing EWCs but no longer allow for the establishment of new EWCs in a ‘no deal’ situation.

2.The Trades Union Congress has raised concerns about the instrument with the Committee, which we are publishing at Appendix 1 alongside the Department’s response. While we are satisfied that BEIS has addressed the concerns, we note that there are sensitivities around the proposed changes to employment law and that the Explanatory Memorandum could have been clearer on their impact. Similar sensitivities apply to the changes to employment law proposed in the Employment Rights (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018. The House may therefore expect the opportunity to debate the draft Regulations and consider further their impact. We recommend that these instruments should be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.

Proposed Negative Statutory Instruments about which no recommendation to upgrade is made